Speed Freak: troubleshooting tips 259 WILL MORE RAM MAKE PHOTOSHOP RUN FASTER? Problem:You added more RAM to your system and assigned more RAM to Photoshop, but it doesn't seem to run any faster. Reason: Adding RAM doesn't always make Photoshop run faster. It only works if you didn't have enough RAM to begin with. Adding RAM will only help to make your computer run as fast as it can, but it won't make your 800-MHz computer run at 801 MHz. For example, if you work on Web images and the average image you work on is 3 MB, you only need about 15 or 20 MB assigned to Photoshop to have it run at full speed. If you've got that, and add another 256 MB of RAM, Photoshop won't run any faster, because Photoshop only needs that 15 or 20 MB that you already had. Freaky. DON'T USE CROP TO FIX BARREL DISTORTION Problem:You're trying to fix barrel distortion that appears on a photo you're editing, but using the Crop tool's Perspective feature is a guessing game. You try the crop and it doesn't look right; you have to undo it, and guess again. Solution: Don't use the Crop tool's Perspective feature, even though it was specifically designed to address barrel distortion. Use the standard Free Transform tool instead, because with it, you get a live onscreen preview as you work, so fixing the distortion takes just a few seconds.